Cupola charging apparatus

ABSTRACT

A normally reclining chute with a front discharge end adapted to be disposed beside a charging opening in the side of a cupola has means beneath its front end pivotally supporting it on a transverse axis. A charging bucket narrower than the back of the chute has laterally projecting trunnions at its bottom that can be lowered onto supporting means carried by opposite sides of the rear end of the chute, whereupon the bucket will tilt forward and down into the chute. The rear end of the chute then is raised to tilt the chute forward for discharging the contents of the bucket from the front end of the chute.

[451 Feb. 26, 1974 CUPOLA CHARGING APPARATUS [75] Inventor: John C. Steighner, Jeannette, Pa.

[73] Assignee: The Hockensmith Corporation,

Penn, Pa.

[22] Filed: Sept. 29, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 184,820

[52] US. Cl. 214/18 SC, 214/18 V, 214/35 R,

4/1956 France 2l4/3l7 Primary Examiner-Robert G. Sheridan Assistant Examiner-Lawrence J. Oresky Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Brown, Murray, Flick &

Peckham [5 7 ABSTRACT A normally reclining chute with a front discharge end adapted to be disposed beside a charging opening in the side of a cupola has means beneath its front end pivotally supporting it on a transverse axis. A charging bucket narrower than the back of the chute has later ally projecting trunnions at its bottom that can be lowered onto supporting means carried by opposite sides of the rear end of the chute, whereupon the bucket will tilt forward and down into the chute. The rear end of the chute then is raised to tilt the chute forward for discharging the contents of the bucket from the front end of the chute.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEB H626 I974 SHEU S [If 5 CUPOLA CHARGING APPARATUS A common way of charging a cupola furnace with scrap metal or with coke or limestone has been to load a bucket and then raise it by means of an overhead crane that runs along a track extending into the cupola through a charging opening in one side. The bottom of the bucket is then opened to dump the charge and then the bucket is carried back out of the cupola and lowered for refilling. This system requires a large opening in the side of the cupola to accommodate the crane and bucket,'so that when the cupola is provided with air pollution control equipment the motor that operates the suction blower must have very high horsepower because of the great quantity of air that enters the charging opening. Another system which uses a similar opening in the side of the cupola does not use an overhead crane, but lifts the bucket by means of a boom-type crane and dumps it through the cupola opening. A disadvantage is that the bucket often bangs against the side of the cupola in getting it into position and therefore causes damage.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide cupola charging apparatus which can be used with a small charging opening in the side of a cupola, and which does not allow the charging bucket to come in contact with the cupola.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. I is a side view, partly broken away in section;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the charging apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus in charging position;

FIG. 4 is a plan view with half of the bucket broken away;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are left and right end views, respectively, of the chute shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the cupola at the side opposite the one shown in FIG. 1, to illustrate the air pollution control equipment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7 of the drawings, a cupola furnace 1 is provided in its side with a much smaller charging opening 2 than heretofore. It is desirable to provide the cupola with equipment for reducing air pollution. This can include a large conduit 3 leading laterally out of the top of the cupola to scrubbers 4 and 5 connected with suction blowers 6 driven by electric motors 7. The air that is drawn in through the charging opening helps dispose of the carbon monoxide.

Above the level of the cupola charging opening there is a track 8 that extends away from the cupola. Running on this track is an overhead crane 9 provided with a pair of hoisting cables 10 connected at their free ends by a cross bar 11 that supports a crane hook 12. Below the track and the charging opening there is an elevated framework 13, on which a base frame 14 rests. Supported by this base frame is a chute assembly that includes a chute l6 proper having a flat bottom 17 and parallel side walls 18, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 6. The upper edges of the front portions of the side walls extend at an angle toward the front or cupola end of the inclined bottom of the chute. However, depending upon the physical conditions, such as clearances etc.,'

a back wall 19 that extends up to a point near the top of the side walls. In the reclining or charge-receiving position of the chute shown in FIG. 2 the back end of the chute rests on base 14, and the front end is spaced a considerable distance above it by means of side members 21 that are attached to both sides of the chute and extend forward and down to the front end of the base frame. Their front ends are pivotally mounted on pivot pins 22 projecting laterally from opposite sides of the base frame.

Pivotally connected to the central part of the base frame and the central part of the bottom of the chute is a fluid pressure ram, such as a plurality of telescoping fluid pressure cylinders 23 which, when exposed to fluid under pressure, extend and swing the chute upwardly on pins 22, as shown in FIG. 3. This causes the rear end of the chute to swing up and forward as the front end swings down and forward through the charging opening 2 in the side of the cupola. When the cylinders are fully extended, the chute slopes forward into the cupola. When fluid pressure is released from the cylinders, the chute will swing back and down by gravity until its rear end again seats on the base frame. It is guided into that position by outwardly flaring guide members 24 extending downwardly from its rear corners for straddling the base frame. Of course, other means could be used for tilting the chute if desired.

The opposite sides of the rear end of the reclining chute are provided with vertical posts 26, which extend above those sides, a short distance in front of the rear end of the chute. Upwardly inclined members 27 extend backward from these posts, with their upper ends a considerable distance below the tops of the posts. V- shape bars 28 are secured to these members and the posts in the V-shape openings formed by them. These bars therefore form upwardly opening recesses having vertical front sides. The purpose of these recesses is to receive and support horizontal trunnions 29 projecting in opposite directions from the bottom of a charging bucket 30. The top of the bucket is provided with a pivoted bail 31 havinga central opening for the crane hook.

In most cases, as shown in FIG. I, the ground beneath the outer position of the crane will be provided with a pit 35, into which the bucket can be lowered by the crane. Cars loaded with scrap iron, coke or limestone will dump their material into the bucket in the pit, and it is then raised to a position above the level of the rear ends of recess bars 28. The crane then moves along the track toward the cupola until the bucket trunnions are over the chute recesses, as shown in FIG. 2. If the bucket has not been raised too high it can be moved toward the cupola until the trunnions strike the front walls of the chute recesses. It then can be lowered until the trunnions seat in the bottoms of the recesses, as shown in dotted lines.

When the trunnions are diametrically opposite each other it is necessary to make sure that when the crane hook is lowered, after the trunnions have been seated in the recesses, the bucket will tilt forward into the chute and not backward. This can be done by mounting a vertically adjustable upright support 37 on the base frame a short distance behind the chute. The top of this support is located at such a level relative to the trunnions when they are seated in the chute recesses to cause the bucket to tilt forward into the chute. That is, the descending bucket will first engage the support and then start to tilt forward as it continues to descend. By the time its trunnions seat in the chute recesses, the bucket will have been tilted so far that it will continue to turn onto its side in the chute. Some of the material will spill out of the bucket into the chute at this time.

The chute is then raised and tilted forward by the fluid pressure ram as shown in FIG. 3, whereupon the contents of the bucket will slide down the chute and into the cupola through its small charging opening. As soon as the empty bucket and chute are swung back so that the rear end of the chute again rests on the base frame, the bucket can be lifted from the chute, carried back to the outer end of the crane track and lowered to the pit for refilling.

When the bucket is carrying large pieces of scrap, they may not fall out of it and into the chute until the bottom of the chute has been tilted up to about a 30 angle with the horizontal. Then the pieces will slide out of the bucket and down the chute into the cupola, where they may strike the opposite side of the cupola with sufficient velocity to damage it. To avoid this, it is desirable in the case of large scrap that the tilted bucket be disposed at an angle of about to the bottom of the chute. Then, when the chute bottom is raised to a 15 angle the bucket will be at a 30 angle with the horizontal and the scrap will fall and slide out of it onto the chute without leaving the chute. Upon further tilting of the chute to about a 30 angle, which is the angle at which scrap will generally slide, the scrap will slide off the chute and into the cupola with considerably less velocity than otherwise would be the Case.

lt will be seen that since only a small charging opening is required for the cupola, the horsepower of the motors that drive the suction blowers of the air cleaning equipment can be held to a minimum. Also, since neither the bucket nor the chute ever comes in contact with the cupola, there is no danger of the latter being damaged by them. By locating the trunnions centrally of the bottom of the bucket instead of off center, either side of the bucket can be made to face the cupola when the bucket is lowered onto the chute. This is an advantage in case one side of the bucket becomes damaged and bent out of shape and it is desired to reverse it on the crane hook. On the other hand, if the bucket is not to handle scrap in pieces large enough to be likely to damage it, the trunnions can be located behind the center of the bucket. In that case the support 37 can be eliminated because the bucket will always tilt forward after its trunnions are set in the chute recesses. The configuration and relationship of the various components will vary in accordance with the particular installation under design.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, l have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. Cupola charging apparatus comprising a normally reclining chute having a front discharge end adapted to be disposed beside a charging opening in the side of a cupola, means beneath the chute pivotally supporting it on a transverse axis, a charging bucket adapted to be raised and lowered and moved forward toward the rear end of the chute, the bottom of the bucket being provided with laterally projecting trunnions, the opposite sides of the rear end of the chute being provided with upwardly opening recesses for receiving and supporting said trunnions a substantial distance above the bottom of the chute to permit the bucket to be tilted forward and down into the chute, the front walls of said recesses extending a considerable distance above their rear walls for engagement by said trunnions before they are lowered into the recesses, and means for raising the rear end of the chute with the tilted bucket therein to tilt and swing the chute forward on said pivotal supporting means for discharging the contents of the bucket from the front end of the chute.

2. Cupola charging apparatus comprising a normally reclining chute having a front discharge end adapted to be disposed beside a charging opening in the side of a cupola, means beneath the chute pivotally supporting it on a transverse axis, a charging bucket adapted to be raised and lowered, the bottom of the bucket being provided with laterally projecting trunnions diametrically opposite each other, means on the opposite sides of the rear end of the chute for receiving and supporting said trunnions a substantial distance above the bottom of the chute to permit the bucket to be tilted forward and down into the chute, the rear end ofthe chute being open behind said trunnion-receiving means so the bucket can project behind the chute when lowered onto it, means behind the chute for engagement by the bottom of the bucket as said trunnions are lowered toward said receiving means, said bottom-engaging means being high enough to cause the bucket to tilt forward on its trunnions into the reclining chute when the trunnions seat in said receiving means, and means for raising the rear end of the chute with the tilted bucket therein to tilt and swing the chute forward on said pivotal supporting means for discharging the contents of the bucket from the front end of the chute. 

1. Cupola charging apparatus comprising a normally reclining chute having a front discharge end adapted to be disposed beside a charging opening in the side of a cupola, means beneath the chute pivotally supporting it on a transverse axis, a charging bucket adapted to be raised and lowered and moved forward toward the rear end of the chute, the bottom of the bucket being provided with laterally projecting trunnions, the opposite sides of the rear end of the chute being provided with upwardly opening recesses for receiving and supporting said trunnions a substantial distance above the bottom of the chute to permit the bucket to be tilted forward and down into the chute, the front walls of said recesses extending a considerable distance above their rear walls for engagement by said trunnions before they are lowered into the recesses, and means for raising the rear eNd of the chute with the tilted bucket therein to tilt and swing the chute forward on said pivotal supporting means for discharging the contents of the bucket from the front end of the chute.
 2. Cupola charging apparatus comprising a normally reclining chute having a front discharge end adapted to be disposed beside a charging opening in the side of a cupola, means beneath the chute pivotally supporting it on a transverse axis, a charging bucket adapted to be raised and lowered, the bottom of the bucket being provided with laterally projecting trunnions diametrically opposite each other, means on the opposite sides of the rear end of the chute for receiving and supporting said trunnions a substantial distance above the bottom of the chute to permit the bucket to be tilted forward and down into the chute, the rear end of the chute being open behind said trunnion-receiving means so the bucket can project behind the chute when lowered onto it, means behind the chute for engagement by the bottom of the bucket as said trunnions are lowered toward said receiving means, said bottom-engaging means being high enough to cause the bucket to tilt forward on its trunnions into the reclining chute when the trunnions seat in said receiving means, and means for raising the rear end of the chute with the tilted bucket therein to tilt and swing the chute forward on said pivotal supporting means for discharging the contents of the bucket from the front end of the chute. 